Vancouver-bred hardcore/pop punk hybrid Daggermouth announced they were going on hiatus in February, as vocalist Nick Leadlay needed time off to battle issues with depression and anxiety. Nearly six months later, the singer has posted a health update on Daggermouths MySpace blog. Though hes clearly made leaps and bounds, he hasnt said anything about whether or not the band will be getting back together, instead pointing out that hes been writing acoustic songs on his own. Leadlay also announced that he tore some ligaments in his ankle.
Daggermouth released Turf Wars on Smallman last year. All of us at Exclaim! wish Leadlay a fast and complete recovery.
Heres the full update:
Hey everybody,
So it's been a while, huh? I pulled a Dave Chappelle and moved to Africa. Well not really but I did move home to Ottawa on the east coast of Canada.
So i figured i'd write a quick note and say thank you soooo much to everyone who has written me/dmouth with words of encouragement. I especially want to thank my boy Vinnie from I Am The Avalanche for writing such a nice bulletin about my situation back in February. As well as the numerous bands that have become my friends over the past two to three years for writting/calling too.
So what the hell happened? To be honest I don't even know. I have been battling with depression/anxiety for over ten years, as I'm sure some people knew just by listening to our records. For some reason I think the pressure of touring/running a band finally caught up to me on that Comeback Kid tour. My body decided it was time to slow down. I had been in and out of hospitals quite a few times in the months leading up to that tour and received basically zero help. Don't believe Michael Moore: the Canadian health care system isn't always perfect by any means. So it was only a matter of time really before this happened.
I have since moved home and i am receiving tons of medical help, as well as support from a circle of friends I've known for over 20 years. My family has also helped me stabilize my life, as well as give me the gift of my first nephew. My new best friend, Oliver Nicholas Leadlay is now three months old.
And yeah, Nicholas is after me :)
That being said, the last three months have been some of the toughest I've experienced in the past ten years. I left San Fran and flew directly home to Ottawa. I haven't been to Vancouver yet and all my belongings are still there. It's been a crazy ride so far. Going from playing shows everyday and meeting so many people, then a day later being on the other side of the country with nothing is pretty fucked. I basically think about this band every single day and it's hard knowing I just can't do it right now. You can't just eat and breath dmouth for three years and then flick a switch and forget about it a day later.
Other than that i have also managed to rip a bunch of ligaments in my ankle. I did it playing soccer two weeks ago and am now off work and on crutches for six to eight weeks. When it rains it pours, huh?
So, to kill time I've been playing a lot of guitar and have written a few acoustic songs. Not sure if they will ever see the light of day but it's fun just to be playing music again, even if it is alone in my room.
Finally, I want to address the merch store. What has happened is all our merch is stuck in Buffalo, NY in boxes. I drove five hours down there last weekend and tried to ship it back but the border hates merch, so right now we are figuring out commercial shipping to get it all to me here in Ottawa. So soon the couple of missing orders will be fixed and the store will be up again for new orders.
Well, I guess that's it for now. Once again, thanks so much everyone. I'm still tripping on the fact a few people got "in friends we trust" tattoos. That's insane to me. Ha, ha.
peace and LOVE
xoxo
nick
Daggermouth live in Toronto
Daggermouth released Turf Wars on Smallman last year. All of us at Exclaim! wish Leadlay a fast and complete recovery.
Heres the full update:
Hey everybody,
So it's been a while, huh? I pulled a Dave Chappelle and moved to Africa. Well not really but I did move home to Ottawa on the east coast of Canada.
So i figured i'd write a quick note and say thank you soooo much to everyone who has written me/dmouth with words of encouragement. I especially want to thank my boy Vinnie from I Am The Avalanche for writing such a nice bulletin about my situation back in February. As well as the numerous bands that have become my friends over the past two to three years for writting/calling too.
So what the hell happened? To be honest I don't even know. I have been battling with depression/anxiety for over ten years, as I'm sure some people knew just by listening to our records. For some reason I think the pressure of touring/running a band finally caught up to me on that Comeback Kid tour. My body decided it was time to slow down. I had been in and out of hospitals quite a few times in the months leading up to that tour and received basically zero help. Don't believe Michael Moore: the Canadian health care system isn't always perfect by any means. So it was only a matter of time really before this happened.
I have since moved home and i am receiving tons of medical help, as well as support from a circle of friends I've known for over 20 years. My family has also helped me stabilize my life, as well as give me the gift of my first nephew. My new best friend, Oliver Nicholas Leadlay is now three months old.
And yeah, Nicholas is after me :)
That being said, the last three months have been some of the toughest I've experienced in the past ten years. I left San Fran and flew directly home to Ottawa. I haven't been to Vancouver yet and all my belongings are still there. It's been a crazy ride so far. Going from playing shows everyday and meeting so many people, then a day later being on the other side of the country with nothing is pretty fucked. I basically think about this band every single day and it's hard knowing I just can't do it right now. You can't just eat and breath dmouth for three years and then flick a switch and forget about it a day later.
Other than that i have also managed to rip a bunch of ligaments in my ankle. I did it playing soccer two weeks ago and am now off work and on crutches for six to eight weeks. When it rains it pours, huh?
So, to kill time I've been playing a lot of guitar and have written a few acoustic songs. Not sure if they will ever see the light of day but it's fun just to be playing music again, even if it is alone in my room.
Finally, I want to address the merch store. What has happened is all our merch is stuck in Buffalo, NY in boxes. I drove five hours down there last weekend and tried to ship it back but the border hates merch, so right now we are figuring out commercial shipping to get it all to me here in Ottawa. So soon the couple of missing orders will be fixed and the store will be up again for new orders.
Well, I guess that's it for now. Once again, thanks so much everyone. I'm still tripping on the fact a few people got "in friends we trust" tattoos. That's insane to me. Ha, ha.
peace and LOVE
xoxo
nick
Daggermouth live in Toronto